Americans are taught the dangers of credit cards from an early age. Young adults are often warned about ballooning debt, extreme interest rates, and lifelong consequences. Even if a debtor passes away, the burden will fall on their relatives. U.S. banks are currently raking in 113 billion dollars of interest and fees every year from the one trillion dollars of credit card balances. While rising credit card debt does pose [...]

GAP insurance is the difference between the actual cash value of a vehicle and the balance still owed on the financing (car loan, lease, etc.). GAP coverage is mainly used on new and used small vehicles (cars and trucks) and heavy trucks. Some financing companies and lease contracts require it. Gap is an acronym, meaning “guaranteed auto protection” or “guaranteed asset protection.” Its function is to provide protection in the early years, when [...]

Have you ever received a tax document showing you a taxable amount of dividends? You probably didn’t receive a check for those dividend amounts, but you’re still required to pay taxes on them. Why is that and how does it affect you?   Why are they taxable? Reinvested dividends come from dividend payments for stocks and other securities that you own. You’ve elected to not receive those dividend payments, but [...]

Ever wonder why healthcare is so expensive? Why is it needed? How steep are penalties if we avoid getting coverage? What’s the real point of it? Is there a book labeled “Healthcare for dummies”? How often does a regular person go to the doctor annually? Does the cost ever go down if you’re seeing the doctor more frequently for those cases that a quick dose of over the counter meds [...]